A policeman died yesterday afternoon when he succumbed to injuries he sustained hours after he lost control of a service vehicle and slammed into a lamp pole and fence along the Vigilance Public Road.
Dead is Special Lance Corporal 14790 Ashwell Jackman, 25, of ‘B’ Field, Sophia.
The accident occurred around 3.15 am yesterday opposite the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court.
Jackman sustained massive head injuries and was rushed in an unconscious state to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH). He died around 3.30pm in the GPH’s Intensive Care Unit, while receiving medical attention.
Stabroek News was informed that Jackman was the lone occupant of the force vehicle at the time of the accident.
A Guyana Police Force statement said that enquires into the accident disclosed that Jackman was proceeding west along the northern side of the Vigilance Public Road in the force vehicle, PTT 8504, when he lost control and collided with a lamp pole and a fence on the southern side of the road.
Stabroek News was told by residents that after losing control, Jackman also slammed into the garage at a resident’s home. The homeowner was identified as Gopaul Ragbar, whose family owns and operates a grocery store at the front of the premises.
Ragbar’s son, Raymond Ragbar, told this newspaper yesterday that he was sleeping when he heard a loud noise. Upon checking, he saw that the police vehicle had slammed into the garage.
He said a section of his fence and the garage doors were damaged due to the accident. A truck that was also parked in the garage sustained minor damages.
While unable to estimate his losses, Raymond related that someone from the police force’s finance department yesterday visited his home to inspect the damages and draft an estimate.
The man said the utility pole that leads the power supply to his home was also damaged.
When Stabroek News visited the scene, workers from the Guyana Power & Light Inc were seen replacing the pole.
Efforts to contact Jackman’s relatives were unsuccessful. However, the police force statement noted that he had joined the force in 2014 and was stationed at Brickdam Police Station and attached to the Mess.
